Smollett claimed that he was attacked by two masked men while walking home in the early hours of January 29, telling police that the pair shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him and physically attacked him before fleeing on foot.

Law enforcement said Smollett staged a hate crime against himself due to unhappiness with his salary and as a ploy to boost his career.

Smollett received eight counts for what he told a police officer and eight more for what he told a detective.

"Jussie Smollett knew that at the time ... there was no reasonable ground for believing that such offenses had been committed", according to the indictment, CBS Chicago said in a report on Friday afternoon. Many also say that Smollett should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and that if the State of IL case against Jussie Smollett is proved true, he should spend time behind bars.

Chicago police said at a February 21 media briefing that Smollett faked the attack because he was "dissatisfied with his salary" on the Fox drama. He posted bond and was released from custody shortly before 4 p.m. Smollett did not speak as he left the Cook County Jail, and was blocked from the crush of media and cameras by a large bodyguard, whose shoulders he held onto.

What do you think about the Jussie Smollett case and the additional charges?

New charges could each carry a possible probation sentence of up to four years.

The second set applies to Detective Kim Murray who interviewed him later that day. Johnson also alleged that Smollett concocted the threatening letter he received prior to the alleged attack that contained homophobic and racist language, and when that "didn't work", went ahead with the attack.

Chicago police said the 36-year-old actor engineered the elaborate hoax to exploit Americans' anxieties over political and racial divisions in a bid to score publicity and a bigger paycheck.

They identified the men as Abel and Ola Osundairo, both of whom had worked on Empire.